"Dragon Boat Festival"

The word "Dragon Boat Festival" first appeared in the Records of the Wind and Earth of the Western Jin Dynasty: "The Midsummer Dragon Boat Festival is the fifth of May, which is the same as the summer solstice." Duan, the ancient Chinese language has the meaning of beginning and beginning, and is called "Duan Wu", which is also called "the fifth day of the day". Shuowen Jiezi: "Duan is the topic of the birth of things", which means that Duan is the beginning, so the fifth day of May is called "Duan Wujie". "Suishi Guangji" said: "Dusty people in the capital city take the first day of May as the end one, the second day of May as the end two, and the number to five is called the end five." The ancients used to call the first few days of May as the end. Therefore, the first noon day of the May (noon) month is called the Dragon Boat Festival.
The Dragon Boat Festival is a combination of various folk customs, such as avoiding evil spirits and epidemic prevention. Therefore, it is believed in later generations that the Dragon Boat Festival originated from the festival set up by the ancients for "avoiding evil spirits and epidemic prevention". The Chinese culture has a long history and is extensive and profound. The ancient festival is an important carrier of traditional culture. The formation of the ancient festival contains profound and rich cultural connotation. The ancient festival attaches importance to the belief of the ancestors' gods and sacrificial activities. The belief of the ancestors' gods is the core of the ancient traditional festival. It is not a day to avoid evil and epidemic that becomes a popular folk festival for all ages; The Dragon Boat Festival originated from the ancient saying of "avoiding evil spirits and preventing epidemics", which is a misunderstanding of the cultural connotation of the ancient festival in later generations. Worshipping ancestors not only covers all the ancient traditional festivals in China, but also is the eternal theme of Chinese folk festivals. As for the blessing words of the Dragon Boat Festival, most folklorists believe that it is after the Dragon Boat Festival that the commemoration of legendary historical figures is attached to the festival, giving the festival other meanings, but these meanings are only part of the Dragon Boat Festival. Many ancient poems describe the festive atmosphere of the Dragon Boat Festival. The Dragon Boat Festival has always been a festive day for eating rice dumplings and picking dragon boats. The lively dragon boat performances and happy food banquets during the Dragon Boat Festival in ancient times are the embodiment of celebrating the festival. The happy Dragon Boat Festival is the tradition. The Dragon Boat Festival is a good day. According to the Chronicle of the Age of Jingchu, the first noon day of the Dragon Boat Festival is a good day because the sun is on the top of the mountain in midsummer.
Among the traditional festivals, there are many and complex folk customs, or only the Dragon Boat Festival and the Spring Festival can be compared. Both festivals have the themes of praying for blessings, eliminating disasters and other rituals, which express people's desire to welcome blessings, ward off evil spirits and eliminate disasters. The Dragon Boat Festival has mixed a variety of folk customs in its historical development and evolution. There are many customs of the Dragon Boat Festival, which are diverse in form, rich in content and lively and festive. There are differences in the content or details of customs across the country due to different regional cultures. The customs of Dragon Boat Festival mainly include picking the dragon boat, offering sacrifices to the dragon, collecting herbs, hanging wormwood and calamus, worshiping gods and ancestors, washing herbs, beating noon water, soaking the dragon boat water, eating rice dumplings, putting paper kites, watching the dragon boat, tying five-color silk thread, fumigating atractylodes, wearing sachets, etc. Dragon-raking activities are very popular in the coastal areas of southern China. After being spread abroad, they are deeply loved by people of all countries and form international competitions. The custom of eating zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival has been popular throughout China since ancient times, and has become one of the most influential and widespread folk eating customs of the Chinese nation. During the Dragon Boat Festival, traditional folk activities can not only enrich the people's spiritual and cultural life, but also well inherit and carry forward traditional culture. As an important part of Chinese traditional culture, the Dragon Boat Festival culture reflects the long history, broad and profound Chinese culture. The Dragon Boat Festival culture has a wide influence in the world, and some countries and regions in the world also have activities to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival.